


Shadowboxing

by Hackworksubleis



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Gay Panic, I am not good with netrunner stuff, Judy is grunge, My V is a lovable gonk, Romance, Sweat, Technical knowledge of stuff that only this gonk couple to be (oops) care about., Useless Lesbians, corpo!v, fem!v, lots of flirting, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:07:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hackworksubleis/pseuds/Hackworksubleis
Summary: Alternate Universe (slightly) - Evelyn has a change of career, there is no Dexter DeShawn. My V is healthy.V used to have it all, working for Arasaka. But she learned the hard way that you can't have it all for too long in Night City. Fast forward eight months later and V is a merc climbing the ladder in the city that saw her demise.But all work and no play makes V a dull girl and so, after days on end of gigs, she and her closest friends go to Lizzie's Bar to blow off some steam.She wakes up the next day and wishes she didn't have that much to drink because the persistent souvenir of someone is engraved in her mind. But she can't recall who they were.
Relationships: Judy Alvarez/V
Comments: 48
Kudos: 122
Collections: Lizzie's Bar





	1. Where I End And You Begin

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter titles are song names. This one is obvious.
> 
> This first instalment is longer as it is setting the table, so to speak, for my specific V's background.

**1.**

_“Gooooood morning Night City! Today is a special day. Today it’s… Valentine’s Day! Get reaaaaady to…”_

The voice of the morning anchor pierced through V’s brain like a bullet, snapping her awake. Grumbling, she blindly shot her arm forward, aiming at the alarm clock on the built-in shelf near the bed, causing it to fall on the floor and for the noise to stop. She let out an annoyed sigh and hoped that it somehow turned off the cursed object. Her head was pounding and her jaw was sore from clenching it, she moved it around a bit to relax her muscles. It was going to be a long day. She hadn’t felt hungover like this in a long time.

“Ugh, Valentine’s Day. Not this shit again.” She muttered.

She thought that the mere idea of it was excruciatingly pointless. It’s not as if 2077 Night City was a romantic city. It was _light years_ away from vintage Paris, the City of Lights, la ville romantique par excellence. But it _was_ called the City of Dreams. The city in which you moved in, a naive being full of ambitions and ideals, only to find yourself somehow munched up and spitted back out, bones and all. This was not V’s intention. She was not delusional to the point of taking risks that would jeopardize her health. She’d already done that by spending years in the proverbial lion’s den working for Arasaka.

She came from a rich family, the corpo life being all and everything that she’d even known. She was career-focused, so much that she became more successful than her parents. That did not fly with them, because for them it was unacceptable that the person that they groomed from a young age be better than them. They purged her from their life when she was around 19 and moved cities without looking back. It was a good thing that at that point, she already had her own corporate-rented apartment. Against all that was ingrained in her head from a young age about the importance of family - ironically - she did not really, did not _truly_ care about their departure; they were not loving parents, they only thought about V in terms on how much money and fame she could earn them.

In turn, V’s whole life as a young adult revolved around her career, everything else in-between was just noise. So her parents cutting her off was, in itself, a blessing in disguise. For V, the grieving process didn’t start until much later on, and by that point, it was too late to do anything about it. She just coped by keeping on doing what she did best, counterintelligence at Arasaka, and then going out often and expansively with her corpo friends. But she was still a young woman, a living and breathing human with emotions, feelings and, most importantly, she started to yearn for more. V felt lonely. She realized that being by herself was not necessary part of her long-term life path, because she felt lonely and despite burying herself in work, it was not enough. There was still something missing, a void.

At first she thought it was simply her grief over the loss of her parents, but it was something more than that. A need to _belong_ to a… unit, to have someone to share her experiences with, her successes and failures. Of course, throughout the years she’d had partners, because sex made things a little more bearable, if only just for a moment, but she had yet to find someone with whom she would share affinities, with whom she had a _connection_ , something meaningful.

Then she met Ellie, who was a mechanic at a garage in Northside where she always went to get her various cars tuned up and maintained. She wanted to know how things worked, not being really trustworthy but also curious, so Ellie was gracious and showed her a few things and explained to her the basic function of the combustion engine, the brake system. One thing led to another and they went on dates, things went really well for a few months but after nearly two years V had to break up with Ellie. Despite all their talk and understanding about commitment, she found out that Ellie cheated on her on more than one occasion. Out of that relationship, V got a broken heart, a hefty knowledge about cars and pretty much everything that had an engine but, worst of all, she also learned that she couldn’t trust anyone, not really. She could only trust people she kept at arm’s length and to whom she’d never reveal herself entirely.

That was Night City for some people : it allured you, whispering all the sweet promises that you wanted to hear; beckoning you with its neon lights and lustful ambiance, displaying dreams you could achieve on shimmering screens, gorgeous people in windows and electrified you with instant promises.

Jackie had never seen her with anyone before, she kept her personal life private and separate, but he was very perceptive and from what little information she told him about her love life, he knew that she was attracted to women and he wanted her to be fulfilled. He’d only recently started dating Misty himself and it was a good colour on him, love. Jackie was her oldest friend. An ex-Valentino, they met somewhere in their early 20s through their mutual love of mechanics and stayed friends then became occasional partners during gigs.

She hated waking up like this, her whole skull hurting and her teeth clenched. Fragments of memories of last night slowly came back to her. Jackie and her had decided to go celebrate after a particularly rewarding gig, inviting Misty and Vik in the process. The job involved the daughter of a renowned politician and rewarded them with a copious amount of eddies. They’d been mercs for a little more than eight months and their reputation was slowly starting to take off. With this contract closed, it was now sure-footed, and it was all thanks to their fixer, Evelyn Parker.

It was a good thing that Jackie made friends easily, being a fixture at Lizzie’s in Watson. Jackie and Misty had been stuck on the idea that V find a special someone, hence the idea of going out at Lizzie’s. She had been single for a long time, only focusing on working to get back on her feet. Her apartment in Megabuilding H10 was part of this process, as before she lived with Jackie and she was very eager to gain her independence again, even if she loved living with her best friend and his mother.

V didn’t remember much after her first few drinks. Shots of _Centzon_ had been involved as well as some fruity but deadly cocktails called Zombies. She was lucky that she was able to process alcohol more efficiently than the average person. It was one of the numerous skills gained working for Arasaka, when she had to go through endless cocktails and happy hours to _mingle_ and, more often than not, gain intel amongst high ranking corporats. But yesterday she underestimated the potency of the cocktail and mixed with beer she had several blank spots in her memories. She remembered chatting excitedly about their day with Vik and Misty, Jackie nodding whilst grinning and gulping away at his beer, then Misty and Jackie dancing on the dance floor while Vik asked her how her classes were going, but soon giving up as V was starting to eye a group of friends that was sitting a few booths away.

Then V was left alone while the others were dancing, Vik flirting with some tall blonde guy. Then something very vivid - a whispering in her ear, the presence of someone, their scent, something spicy yet sweet, like synthcinnamon; warmth making her feel at ease. Even through her muddled state. Then warm, hazel eyes with black winged eyeliner upon her as her body moved through fog and laser lights, following the thumping bass. A few moments of bliss as she escaped herself.

A warm feeling washed upon V as she desperately tried to remember. _Fuck, Jackie and his brilliant ideas…_ No, she had to be honest, she was an adult; if she didn’t want to get smashed she could’ve just said no or, at least, moderated her alcohol consumption. But she needed some kind of release. Being a freelance mercenary also meant that she could go days, even weeks, only doing work. Some contracts spanned over several days, and required her to drive all over Night City, even in the badlands, sometimes she had to sleep at seedy hotels with no functioning air con. Which was a nightmare in the blistering summer.

The grind of constant work had taken its toll and the only person she could blame for losing control was herself. Whoever was the lady she met, she hoped that she didn’t make a fool of herself. But what were the chances of finding that woman again in this metropolis of a city? It would be hard, considering. V let out another sigh as she flopped back on the bed, squinting her eyes shut and silently cursing herself. She hadn't been with anyone in months, always working. When she was not doing gigs, she was either working out, working on her car or maintaining weapons.

Working out actually made her feel _good_. That habit started almost as soon as she started her merc career. It was something that Vik told her back when she was with Arasaka. She had gone to him after an assignment gone wrong - not the first time - and got seriously injured. He was visibly worried about her.

“Listen, kid, don't let all this cyberwear and body mods get to your head and let you believe that you're invincible. What if one day, they don't work? You gotta learn to hone your guts and your fists as weapons.” Of course, back then, she'd just scoffed, feeling so secure in her position at Arasaka that the need to develop such skills were futile in her mind. But then, when she lost everything she worked for in a matter of hours because of a mistake her boss did, she understood then what it meant to be weak. She understood the meaning of his words.

She felt lost, then. As if her whole life just ended there and meant nothing. But it only took her a few days to realize that instead of having lost everything, she’d been set free. Everything she learned from working at Arasaka could be useful for another career. Plus, she still had her life. She had another shot. Most of the people that Arasaka felled, like Jenkins, could not attest to that. Then again, he assassinated a boardroom full of people. V could not say that she missed the guy. Maybe back then but now, with everything she experienced after starting over, she believed that he got what he deserved.

But then again, V’s hands were not clean. That was why she was picky when it came to gigs. She didn’t just pick _any_ , and didn’t hesitate to refuse work from a fixer if she deemed either the job or the work provider shady. She didn’t have many fixers other than Evelyn, and she didn’t mind. The money was nowhere near as good as during her Arasaka days but it was _clean_ money. It was her own path to redemption, in a way, helping those who couldn’t help themselves, that sort of thing.

* * *

**2.**

The sunlight coming through the window made her wince, she’d been so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t notice it rise in the sky. It must have been around 10 or 11 am. It was clear, today, a rare feat in this grey city. V was amazed that the sun rays managed to pierce through the thick smog above the city. Resilience was one of life’s wonders. Like the memory of those sparkling eyes, there was a sliver of hope in this dump of a city. V felt a smile creep on her lips and she finally managed to summon the courage to move the covers aside and slowly get up from her warm bed. Slow was a good move because the world started to sway a little as she put her arm up against the wall to steady herself. Grudgingly, she started walking to her computer desk.

On the right-hand side was a small coffee machine. She always prepared it in advance the evening right before a celebratory outing. Coffee was one of the very things she splurged on, so it was the good stuff. She reserved it for times like these, when the caffeine was absolutely needed in order to function. She pressed the button to start the brewing process then headed to the shower. As she was walking, she removed her boxer shorts and Samurai sleeveless shirt, tossing them in the laundry basket by the bed.

The shower was welcome, the warm water alleviating some of the pain from her sore muscles from the constant grind of her job. She was so used to waking up with various pains in her body that it was just part of her life, her new life. The physical pain serving as a reminder that she had a long road ahead of her. It was welcome. That, she could tackle head on. With yet another sigh, she turned off the water, dried herself with a towel then reached in her medicine cabinet to get painkillers for her head. It wasn’t the top shelf stuff, she couldn’t afford it, but she hoped that coupled with the coffee, it would alleviate the ache in her skull.

She swallowed them dry then padded along to her closet to get some clean garments. She put on some black jeans and a light grey tank top under a thin blue and black flannel shirt after glancing briefly at the weather forecast. The comforting aroma of the arabica synthbeans floating in her small apartment filled her with comfort. She helped herself to a giant cup and installed herself in front of her terminal to check her emails while sipping away, the caffeine gradually waking her up and easing the ache in her skull. There was nothing of note in her messages, except that damn reminder that her rent was due and that they would have to evict her if she didn’t pay. They were annoying, she did pay, but they kept sending the same emails.

She still had several hours to kill before her afternoon class, so she decided to get her bag ready and leave early to enjoy the sun. She put on black Converse high-tops - a change from her usual synthleather boots - and slid her black-framed aviator glasses on her nose and headed out the door. Soon after, her stomach reminded her that she had yet to get some breakfast. Apparently a kitchen in her apartment was too damn much to ask. She stopped by a vending machine and bought a burrito XXL, not bothering to stop before devouring the thing. It was cold but she didn't care. She tossed the wrapper in a nearby overflowing rubbish bin then kept on walking, desperate to get out of the stink of the corridors.

As much as V loved driving, today was a slow day and she felt like enjoying the weather. The sun on the young merc’s face definitely made her feel better as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs for a few seconds to enjoy the warmth. It was short-lived before some idiot jabbering on the phone bumped into her, the scowl on her face enough to make him audibly gulp then walk away a little bit faster than before. She snickered to herself. Still got it. She resumed her walk, unsure of where to go next, letting her feet guide her through the city as she put on some music through her audio implant. It was colder than it looked, V was glad she put on her flannel shirt. For once she had time to enjoy the bustling of people going to and from work, getting on with their day.

Most of them didn’t seem to care or notice the too-rare sunny day, for they were busy staring down or yelling at their phone or rushing to the next thing in their day. The city had that effect on people, dulling them out to the point that they didn’t even notice it anymore. V had finally some time off to slow down. She felt the need to ground herself. As she walked, the song that was playing in her ears sounded _very_ familiar. It was a song by Lizzy Wizzy, _Samana (Levant Mix)_ and, suddenly, a flashback from the night before came to her.

She was on the dance floor, swaying to the rhythm of the music and enjoying herself, having decided to leave her inhibitions out the door. She had no idea where the other three were and couldn’t care less. She didn’t notice that she was close to a cluster of friends in their own little bubble. Moments later, another song was on and she found herself dancing mere inches away from another woman. She remembered the scent, that damn sweet and spicy scent, as well as hands grazing her sides while her own arms were above her head, her body moving to the music. She had her eyes closed but when she opened them, she saw the other woman looking at her with a small smile while they both synced themselves to the other’s rhythm and danced together. It seemed as if the world disappeared around them and they were alone with the music.

V could feel the heat emanating from her partner, wanting nothing more but to close the distance between them and… but they were in public and she did not know if that was what the woman wanted. Despite her inebriated state, she had boundaries she would not cross and the other woman was most likely as drunk as she was.

Then the song faded away and the spell was broken.

V sighed at the memory, wishing she could remember more. She doubted they exchanged more than five words. Their body language was enough. V just wanted to feel close to someone, at least she guessed, since she couldn’t remember her exact thoughts during that moment, but now she felt something akin to regret. There was a lingering ache in her body, like something was… _missing_? It was absurd. She did not know that woman. But she now remembered the sparks that seemed to be flying between them, the cool hand lightly resting on the small of her back and her own palms feeling the shape of her hips but not quite touching. Wanting but restraining herself as if she would get burned if she dared touching.

_“A thing of beauty I know…”_

The next song started to play and she found herself humming along to it, noticing that she was approaching Corpo Plaza. Rather, the park adjacent to it. Thoughts of her old life started flooding her but she suppressed them, wanting to feel the buzz from last night, attempting to bottle up those sensations, to wrap herself in them. It was foggy at best, she couldn’t help but feeling happiness at that, wanting to spread it on her skin. It had been a long time that she felt that, it was good. The buzzing ringtone of her holo brought her back to reality, it was Jackie. She pulled up the video so they could see each other. He was chilling on Vik’s rooftop, a coffee in his hand.

“Hey _chica_! How are you feelin’?” He let out a slight chuckle.

“Oh, y’know, a little bit like I got run over by a truck but in a good mood.”

“You had a _good_ time last night!” He emphasized the word, a smile creeping on his face.

“So did you. How are you?”

“Feeling hung over like a _hijo de puta_ , but it was worth it!”

“Say, you.. um.. you don’t ‘member seein’ me with… someone, didn’t you?”

“You mean, like flirtin’?”

“…”

Jackie let out a laugh. “No, I don’t. Lemme guess, you met _una mamacita_ but you were too pissed and now you forgot?”

“..That’s the gist of it, yeah. Also, _pendejo_ , you ditched me. You were my wingman…”

“Yeah, sorry V… ‘Jus’, Misty and I had some… business to attend to. And you had Vik…”

“Yeah he also disappeared on me, so…”

Jackie stayed silent for a minute. V had reached a nice sunny spot with a free bench, near a tree, which was a rarity in the city. There were only a few parks with greenery and that’s exactly what she was looking for. She sat, her bag next to her.

“Sorry, I don’ know what to tell ya, V. Maybe she’s a regular there. D’you remember what she looked like?”

Jackie sat up straight, his eyes inquisitive.

“Uh.. She had.. she smelled like.. Nuh-uh, I mean, her eyes were deep brown with nice eyeliner…”

He quirked his eyebrow, shaking his head.

“ _Ay ay ay_ , doesn’t ring a bell.”

“It’s a’right. Thanks anyway, Jack.”

“ _Lo siento, amiga_ ,” Jackie apologized again, “gotta delta, Misty needs me.”

V chuckled. “Take care.”

With a nod and a smile, he hung up. V looked at the time, she had plenty to do what she wanted to do. It felt good to be sitting on a bench, where there was actual grass - well, if you could call that grass. Still, it was green and looked soft enough. She rummaged through her bag and found what she was looking for: a worn paperback. She didn’t salvage much from her old life, but books were a precious commodity and it was one of the few things that helped her connect within herself. She was lucky she’d rented that garage off the books from Arasaka and paid for it with a few rolls of eddies. The merc was happily basking in the sunlight as music resumed, something slow and ambient to put her in the mood to read her science-fiction book.

It was about the end of the world that happened in a form of cataclysmic flood by an author from the early 2000s. She found it an eerie reminder of the present. There was no flood that happened per se but there was a massive extinction of species of the planet as well as most of the cities. But that book had hope, and hope she could use some of. Then her eyes glazed over the words on the page as her thoughts drifted off to the _should haves, could haves_ from last night. She shook her head in a futile attempt to get her mind off of last night’s encounter but to no avail.

 _Fuck_ , she needed to find that woman. If only just to apologize for her behaviour… _Riiiight, you gonna apologize, then what? Sorry for wantin’ to blow off some steam but also sorry for not doin’ nothin’ about it? Sorry for bein’ drunk. ‘Coz you obviously were… And we’re two adults…_

Fuck.

It was crazy.

She only had a handful of clues to remember the woman by. Maybe Vik would know? She _could_ call him, but wouldn’t it sound kind of… desperate? She doubted he would know more than Jackie. She would have to lead her own investigation, go back to Lizzie’s and ask around. The barman’s name was.. Matthew or Orlando or Leo or something like that, V was horrible with names and honestly, who was paying attention to their barman’s name? She certainly wouldn’t be the first person to ask about someone they met the night before, right? V had a good feeling about this. She also held that certainly that she wouldn’t be able to focus anymore, so she decided to start walking in the general direction of her class. She would be early but she could use extra training today, she had to blow off steam, a _lot_ of it.

V had always been good at pretending to be every _thing_ and every _one_ but herself; revealing who she truly was - really _being_ herself was not something that was ingrained in her. One could say that it all stemmed from her past relationship with her parents as well as the way they raised her, but deep down she knew that it was a way to protect her own vulnerability. Focusing intensely and solely on her work and not making many friends nor developing relationships other than what she had with Ellie was a way to distance herself. A therapist would say that she keeps her barriers up to avoid getting hurt. Her parents would say that she is selfish. And V would say that you can’t ever really trust someone unless they prove you otherwise.

So far her circle of friends was limited. She was closest with Jackie but ever since he finally started to go out with Misty, they didn’t spend as much time together outside of gigs. It was a good thing that V was trying and break her bad habits and circumvent her programming by keeping herself grounded and the first step had been realizing that she was the one responsible for her own fate, letting her parents influence her own career decisions even when she'd reach adulthood. She strolled at a good pace, almost jogging before remembering that this _was_ Night City after all and who the fuck would care if she ran or not? With a hopeless shake of her head, V broke into a full-blown jog and ran the few kilometres that separated her from her class.

* * *

**3.**

She stopped in front of the glass door adorned with several colourful banded flags - all symbols of the gender and sexual diversities. The merc checked the time, calling up the clock on her HUD for her pulse and the time. Not too shabby. Her triweekly class was starting to pay off in terms of cardio. As she walked in the door of Sammy’s club, her cyberdeck displayed that her cybernetic augmentations had turned offline. Good, the modifications she made on Sammy’s network seemed to have held. She wasn’t the best netrunner around but she was the best netrunner her coach could afford. He even offered her a month’s worth of classes for free but she waived it, saying that she wasn’t doing it for the money. As soon as the door closed behind her, V was assaulted with the smell of chlorine, a faint trace of sweat but, most of all, the smell of hardworking bodies. The dull sound of fists connecting with heavy bags was almost as loud as the music playing through the speakers of the club. V let out a content sigh. This was her _home_.

The club was divided in two walled sections : on the left-hand side was the main training area, with a mirror covering the wall section on the right, a training mat with punching bags near the door and an empty area for the class in the middle and on the left side was several windows. At the back was the changing room, a storage area and a bathroom. The right-hand side of the club held an octagon and a cage for training as well as more training equipment. In the back was a decrepit shower for when you were really desperate. She walked to the counter on the right-hand side of the door to find Sammy himself sitting behind it. The man had piercing blue eyes and short curly blonde hair that he tamed with sculpting clay. He had a stubble that he proudly wore on his jaw and cheeks. After all, he had worked for it. He was working on something she couldn’t see under the counter but as soon as he heard the beeping noise from the door, his head shot up and, recognizing V’s familiar purple fauhawk and strut, his concentrated features broke into a grin.

“Hey V! You’re _early_!”

“Yeah, wanted to work on my techniques, y’know.”

“That’s awesome! Well, I have a few other students practisin’ but they don’t need me. Why don’t I…” He got up, unfolding his tall and lean yet muscular frame and rounded the counter to give her a firm handshake. “…try and show my best student some of the new material we’ll work on today?”

With a small smile, V shook his calloussed hand. This was the most extreme form of physical contact she would allow anyone. Even Jackie tried to give her a hug back when they first started to know each other, but she somehow always found a way to either awkwardly step backwards to avoid them or slither out like a snake that just got burnt. Eventually after enough times of contorting herself to escape his touch in ways that would have made Houdini proud, Jackie got the picture and stopped.

“That’d be nova.” She replied as she turned to remove her shoes and set them up on the shelving unit on the left-hand side of the entrance and walked towards the back to the changing room, stepping on the training mat as she did and weaving her way through the few students already hard at work, either sparring in pairs, shadowboxing whilst observing their form in the mirror or punching and kicking to work on their core strength on one of the several heavy bags strategically placed.

She closed the curtain separating the changing room from the main area, then dropped her training bag on the bench and proceeded to empty her pockets on it, her aviators on top, then stripped to her undergarments to put on her training outfit: a sleeveless muscle tank top and MMA shorts. Her upper back, front and arms were intricately tattooed. The whole acted as a huge piece but it was several high quality tattoos, added over the years. Blue flowers were the focal point on her arms, reciprocated as a bigger geometrical blue flower between her shoulder blades, its petals reversed, an asymmetrical pattern reminiscent of waves underlaid on her arms and back. The whole pattern stopped a few inches from her elbows. Her legs and thighs were sculpted from her rigorous training regimen. Her left thigh bore a geometrical pattern tattoo under which read the lines :

_no concrete adversity_

_only traps of our own actions_

written with a typewriter-like font. Like all her other inked pieces, it was done at a pivotal moment in her life. This one was done shortly after she started her new life as a merc. After getting dressed, V grabbed her hand wraps from the bag and unrolled them entirely on the floor, making sure they were on the right side. She slid the loop around her thumb, splayed out her hand and proceeded to wrap the protective garment around her wrist and fingers and finished with the velcro tag to secure them. V opened and closed her fists several times, flexing her fingers as hard as she could and punching each hand into the other once or twice to make sure that it wasn’t too tight. Despite this being an old technology, it was still the most reliable element for her sport of choice.

Sammy was quite the old school guy and V, being soaked in technology all-day long, be it working for Arasaka or tweaking her latest iron or working on her car, found it healthy to revert back to analogue technology and good old-fashioned fighting to work up a sweat and tone her organic muscles. Satisfied with her work, she dumped the contents of her pockets in a side pouch in her sports bag, secured it with a lock and grabbed two cans of RealWater and a towel as well as her boxing gloves and focus mitts. She drank some of one, in need of hydration herself after her jog and went back to the main room where Sammy was waiting for her.

“Alright V, you ready?”

“Always.” She replied with a grin, setting her drinks, towel and mitts on the ledge of the window and proceeded to put on her boxing gloves.

Sammy was a good and patient teacher. V had been training with him for a year - exactly to the day that she lost everything to Arasaka. Devastated, she went on a alcohol binge with Jackie that ended with her being somewhat beat up by some rando because she was a loud mouth and provoked him even though she’d been stripped of all her cyberwear and mods. Jackie had to bring her to Vik’s to get fixed up and, despite the physical damage being not too bad, she took it hard and in that moment, V realized that she really did lose everything. She found the club after Misty mentioned it to her, it was frequented by one of her clients. V visited and registered the next day.

“So, first, a little warm-up.”

“Uh-huh.”

The warm-up was always the easiest, usually consisting of a few runs around the room and exercises such as shadowboxing, cardio training or light sparring, depending on the coach's mood and the room available. Today they went with some light sparring for a few minutes, just enough to get the blood flow going.

"OK, for now we're just doing a punch combo. This one is called hammer blow. Basically you get a guy down then swing a hammer blow to his head. It's quite brutal though, I must warn you."

"Last resort then..."

"So here we go - jab, cross, hook and hammer blow. Lemme show you first."

Sammy proceeded to show V the new punch - the hammer blow. It was just as described, using your fist as a hammer to hit your adversary in a downward arc. It was simple yet powerful. But hard to use unless you found a way to get your adversary's guard low. Then he put on his focus mitts and V got to work practising the combo. Then Sammy started to explain another combo when the door chime interrupted him. They both turned towards the entrance as a person V never saw before walking in. Something about her felt _familiar_ but V couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Hm, keep practising. I'll.. go see what's what."

A young woman about V's age stood facing the counter, taking in her surroundings. What was striking about her appearance was the colour of her hair - pink and green, the left side of her head shaved showcasing a small implant and her many, _many_ tattoos. V thought she saw some Mox ink as well as several roses, among others. Other than the implant on her head, she had no visible augmentations.

She wore... _Overalls? Really? In this climate?_ And she had a sports bag slung on one shoulder that looked pretty empty. She couldn't see her face very well as she was turned sideways to talk to Sammy who'd made his way back behind the counter. Their exchange was brief, a bit cold but courteous. V pretended to box the air as she kept observing the woman, mesmerized. She was fucking gorgeous. Then the colourful haired woman turned towards V, noticing her staring. Her eyes grew big and her mouth opened slightly for a split second in recognition before her lips curled up in a shy smile, keeping her eyes on a transfixed V as she took her shoes off, put them on the unit then proceeded to walk towards V. It was then that V noticed the winged eyeliner and those deep brown eyes.

_Shit, shit, shit. Is that...? Ohmyfuck._

Then another strange thought process occurred.

_Why the fuck would she wear eyeliner to a kickboxing class? Does she think she won't sweat? Oh fuck is she stalking me or what? Oh my fuck am I **gay** panicking right now?_

As she passed in front of V, she could swear that the woman _winked_ at her.

" _Hey_."

"H-hi." Was all V could muster.


	2. Now or Never Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V and Judy pair up for a kickboxing class, V coaches her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write slowly. I edit a lot. After much waffling about, here it is the second chapter.  
> Thanks to my precious ferns over at Lizzie's Bar Discord server for their input, as always. You know who you are.
> 
> Title for this chapter is from Metric's album _Art of Doubt _. Enjoy, it's a banger.__

1.

V immediately felt her cheeks start to burn as her nose picked on that familiar scent she was obsessed with since last night. Oh fuck it was _her_ all right. V could do nothing but stare at the woman as she walked in the changing room. She couldn't help herself to check out every inch of her, comparing the person she was seeing now to the one buried in the memories she had of last night. All that while trying her best not to be conspicuous about it. More fragments surfaced but not nearly enough. V felt immensely stupid. Had they touched each other? Spoke to each other? If so, what did they say? Although V could wager that not many _words_ were exchanged.

She went to get her can of RealWater to drink more of it, hoping to drown out her extreme uneasiness. She quickly darted to the counter. Sammy was typing some stuff up on his terminal.

"Hey so...Um... New student ?"

"Yeah, I think so! Wants to try a class. See how she likes it."

"Oh that’s… that's good."

"Yeah. Wasn' sure at first, she’s a bit distant, cold. But she's with the Mox, they’ve always been good to us and our folks, figured maybe she’s just shy. Or somethin’.”

“Maybe she doesn’ like dudes. Y’know how it can be for us…”

“True. But it’s kind of obvious what kind of gym this is, y’know? I mean…” He gestured to the LGBTQIA+ flags adorning the windows.

The Mox, huh? Lizzie’s was their unofficial headquarters. As any good Night City resident, she knew about the gang. As any good lesbian, she knew about the history of the bar and its importance within the community. Perhaps the woman worked there. She didn’t remember seeing her before. But then again, she didn’t go out that often.

It was possible that V missed that piece of information as she pretended to listen as Jackie went on about how great Lizzie’s was when they went out. He was a regular at Lizzie’s, even if he was straight as an arrow. He claimed he loved their drinks. But then again, Jackie talked about...everything. He just _loved_ to talk. She adored the guy but sometimes it was exhausting.

“She mentioned how she heard of your gym?”

"Why, plannin’ to write an article about us or what?" Sammy chuckled, amused by her curiosity.

"N-no, jus' wonderin'..."

“You look super flushed right now. Sure you OK?" Sammy observed like it was the most mundane thing in the world.

V was trying _hard_ not to fidget with the seams of her boxing gloves and just keep her arms still as she nodded, trying to look casual while cursing her treacherous complexion.

“Nova. Jus' outta breath."

"OK good, because you're gonna be the one who’s gonna take care of Judy today." He said with a wink. So the bastard _had_ noticed something. “I may have mentioned that you were a good teacher. I’ll coach the others.”

It made sense. V sometimes assisted him in class to demonstrate new material and help out when there were too many new students for him to keep his focus on. Helping Sammy and tweaking his network earned her some private lessons on top of the classes.

The young merc tried not to let the deliciously unpredictable way her day turned out to be more distracting than it already was. She pushed the panic down and retained her composure. What was _wrong_ with her? She used to be a corpo, for fuck’s sake! Keeping her emotions and feelings in check was one of her specialties. Then her brain jumped back to the new nugget of intel she gained on her now not-so-mysterious woman: her name was _Judy_. She tried to suppress the smile she felt creeping on her lips as Sammy looked at her, visibly in the midst of explaining something.

“… so I was wonderin’ if you could help me check that out? Bloody glitch had been buggin’ me.”

Fuck, she’d tuned him out. Before she could reply, the soft sound of feet padding on the mat next to her made her turn her head around. She closed her mouth, squinting her eyes shut for a brief second, regretting immediately as pain flashed through her skull. The headache wasn’t completely gone, after all.

“What kind of glitch we talkin’ ‘bout?” Judy asked, leaning her forearms on the counter like she owned the fucking place. Her voice was smooth, confident; the tone casual with a slight tinge of a… Hispanic accent? Its inflexions similar to V’s, although she could tell that she was an occasional smoker from the very slight raspiness of her voice. So she was also from Night City or its outskirts. V noticed the tightly wrapped hands and wrists. _Good wrapping job! She ever done this before?_

Judy had changed to plain royal blue boxing shorts and a light grey loose-fitted t-shirt with a black heart with the word **_Hole_** printed on it. V raised her eyebrow slightly. Now Judy screamed grungy lesbian or V wasn't an ex-corpo. V couldn't help looking down at Judy's figure while Sammy and the colourful woman seemed to have a lively tech conversation that V missed every word out of. Something more important was grasping all of her attention. Judy really had _a lot_ of tattoos. When the merc’s gaze fell upon Judy’s legs, it almost made V's own turn into jelly. Legs were — one of her numerous, let’s be honest — things and these shorts wore their name quite accurately. She had a black garter around one well-defined thigh, a decent-sized owl on the other one with a single word above it - Selfmade and another one on her outer ankle that looked like a... V's inspection was cut short when someone nearby noisily cleared their throat.

"So, _V_ , like what you see?" Judy asked, now facing her and quirking an eyebrow, a cheeky smile at her lips.

V's heart skipped. She didn't remember telling Judy her name. Sammy most likely imparted that piece of information since he also took it upon himself to pair them up together. Judy's way of pronouncing her name made her blush somewhere else. Sammy had disappeared at some point in the midst of her reverie. Did he just glitch away? Now it was just her and Judy at the counter. _Fuck, what a fool I'm making of myself..._ She decided to match Judy's smug attitude and sported a small grin.

"Couldn't help it... Ink is… kinda my thing." V replied, her voice an octave lower. “Yours’ quite something.”

Judy looked surprised for a split second, her smile faltering and red spreading to her cheeks. Clearly she didn't expect _that_ answer. The sparkle that shone in her eyes burned brighter though.

"So," Judy said again, gaze shying away from V's green eyes for a second while she asked. “…d’you remember… last night?"

V's face started to burn a bright red. She looked at Judy's chocolate browns and nodded slowly, her voice barely a whisper. "Was hopin'... to see you again, Judy.” A beat, then. "Class is startin'. Let's go. We can talk 'bout it after... if you want."

Judy smiled at her, nodding. V motioned for Judy to follow her with her gloved hand, still catching up with reality. Was this really happening? Was the woman she met last night while being drunk out of her ass standing once again a couple of feet away from her? Now, though, V was sober and painfully aware of her surroundings. This was her… territory, the martial art club. She tried to muster a focused and serious expression. She had work to do. Pleasure would have to wait.

The afternoon class was not the busiest so there was enough room for them to pair up at the end of the training area, where V could focus herself on Judy as well as on Sammy, who was eying her inquisitively. He kept quiet about it and for that V was thankful. Although she suspected it wasn’t for her benefit. She had an image to maintain at the club. There were only six students today. They arranged themselves in a row and put their training equipment close by on the mat or on the window ledges. Those who didn’t have their own boxing gloves and focus mitts grabbed some from a shelf on the wall adjacent to the changing room and Judy did the same. V noticed that Judy didn’t hesitate when she got her gloves. She observed the selection for a bit and chose a good pair and some mitts as well. She set them next to V’s.

"I see a few new faces here today. Welcome! Just a few words : here is a safe place for queer folks and women." He eyed the students for a moment. Sammy knew that practically all his students were members of marginalized groups. It was not always obvious at first glance but he'd been in the community long enough to notice the body language change from people who recognized the flags on the windows and doors as they entered. They usually smiled. It also helped that Sammy advertised only on underground media. He did on public media before but it only attracted trouble, hence the safety precautions. It'd been a while but V advised him to be cautious.

"I started Sammy's three years ago, before my gender transition. I am telling you this because I know some of you aren't comfortable around men. So if there is anything bothering you, come see me." He paused for a brief moment to let the words sink in. "So yeah, that's about it. We usually start with warming up exercises then work our way to combos interwoven with cardio exercises. I try to keep the content fresh. If you want to keep up with the rest of the class, it's best if you attend all the classes. We also offer private lessons, tailored to your specific needs.” He gestured at V and all the eyes turned to the purple-haired merc for a second as she nodded in acknowledgement.

With that, he clapped his hands together and nodded to himself. "Alright, first, let’s do a warm-up.“

* * *

2.

They did a fifteen-minute warm-up. The first exercise consisted of running around the training area carrying medicine balls in their arms. There were eight of them and three medicine balls. Every thirty second or so Sammy yelled for them to stop and the ones who had one had to toss it at someone else who had to catch it and keep running with it in the opposite direction. So they had to keep their eyes peeled. Judy thought at first that it was kind of ridiculous and scoffed to herself but when V shot her a warning glare as she chucked her the heavy ball that Judy barely caught with an audible oomph, she shut up and focused on getting her revenge. Her competitive side flared up and she even managed to throw it back at V who caught it effortlessly.

That was just the beginning of class. There was more cardio and warm-up exercises. Soon, Judy’s face was red and her throat was dry. Thankfully, they stopped for a water break so she could properly breathe in and out in an attempt to slow down her racing pulse. She cursed herself for forgetting to bring a drink to a fucking _workout_ class. That was an oversight she could only blame on feeling hangover. Her inner ranting was cut short when she felt V’s hand brushing her arm slightly. The brief touch sent a jolt down Judy’s stomach as she promptly turned to find the slightly taller woman silently handing her an unopened can of RealWater with a questioning look.

“Noticed you didn’t bring any.” She explained briefly, a slight tinge colouring her cheeks.

“Thanks, V.” Judy said with a grateful smile, taking it gently from the other woman’s hand. _Cute and generous._ She cracked it open and took a long sip. V smiled, glancing longingly at the other woman before catching herself and clearing her throat.

“Hm, don’ drink too much at once. Don' want the water bloatin' your stomach. Might get uncomfortable for… _physical_ activities.”

V made sure to put just enough emphasis on the word. She tried to suppress her smile as the hand holding the can froze mid-air and Judy’s cheeks seemed to redden even more, colouring her pale complexion in the most delicious of ways. Judy put the can down on the window ledge, clearing her throat.

“Um, clearly underestimated my... capacities…” Judy mused. “Also _pretty_ hungover… Can’t ‘member everythin’” She breathed as she looked at V, remembering fragments of them dancing to Lizzy Wizzy’s beats. Judy now wishing that they locked themselves down in her work den instead, the music blasting through the speakers, V sitting on her desk, her ankles locked around Judy’s hips as she fucked her brains out. She caught herself holding her breath, because V was returning the intensity in kind. Judy couldn’t remember the last time someone had that effect on her.

“Tell me ‘bout it…” murmured V, thoughts swirling furiously. _Fuck. Don't remember the last time someone looked at me like that._ She tried to shake images off of her mind as she forced herself to appear somewhat professional.

“OK folks!” resounded Sammy's voice, bringing them efficiently back to reality. “Find yourself a partner you’re comfortable with, we’re gonna start practisin’ some combos!”

“ _Finally!_ ” murmured V, or so she thought she did because Sammy threw her a glare.

“Something to say, V?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Um, go team?” She grinned awkwardly.

He shook his head, barely refraining an eye roll and resumed his explanation. Judy tried to suppress a chuckle, but V heard her and shot her a half-assed glare. She sighed, was that Judy’s effect on her? Was she that hangover? It was going to be a long class. She rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck and stretched her arms and legs quickly.

"Been wantin' to let out some steam _badly_." V muttered between her teeth. Judy shot her an inquisitive glance. _Oh so you didn't yesterday?_ She knew they didn’t hook up in any way, because she wouldn’t let it happen with all the other staff members and regulars present. But she did remember how close they were as they danced together, and that it was on more than one song.

The young merc grabbed the focus mitts from the window ledge and handed them to Judy.

“Put these on. Otherwise s’gonna hurt.”

V slid her boxing gloves on, eyeing Judy as she seemed to struggle a bit with how to position her fingers in the mitts to be comfortable. Then the bicolour haired woman looked at the other students in the class and tried to mimic their combat stance without much success.

“Never done this before?” V asked.

“No… Not really. Show me?” Judy asked hopefully, looking up at her with the shyest of smiles.

With that look, Judy could’ve asked her anything, really. V had to focus, hard, and remember where she was. She nodded, smiling back. The rest of the class had already started to spar, but V didn’t seem to care.

“'Course. Take these off and lemme show you some basics. First: stance.”

Judy gladly removed the mitts, put them back on the ledge then went back to her original position.

V went next to Judy, they were both side by side, facing the mirrored wall. “Watch.” Left foot forward, leg bent a bit, feet parallel. “You want your strong hand behind for the cross punch, so for me it’s the right one.”

She put her arms up in a fighting stance, fists closed, and punched the air with her right fist. “See my stance?” She tapped both her thighs with her hands then put her arms up again. “Weight goes on both legs about equally so when you hit, you can put your weight behind your fist and you are also ready for defence. The foot behind has to sorta.. _dance_ , following your movement. You move your hips so your whole body follows. That way, s’not just the muscles of your arm behind the punch but both your muscles and your weight. Look at my feet.” V punched again, and Judy saw that her right foot lifted and twisted slightly as she punched, following the movement of her hips. “Important also: keep your chin down. Don’t wanna get hit there and lose your balance. Last thing: arms up to your chin, elbows bent. Like this.” V put her arms up with the elbows bent, one arm protecting her face while the other protected her body.

The V next to Judy was different from the one she saw last night. Or at least what she could remember. This V was confident, calm; in her element. Most of all, they were both sober, and even under the shitty neon lights, she could take in how gorgeous the purple-haired woman was. She took her time taking all that in as she breathed in and out, steadying herself. She had to focus. She was here to train. Judy noticed that the stress and anger she previously felt toned down to a faint background noise and that she felt at ease as she watched V demonstrate while explaining. Tranquility is something she hadn't felt in so long it almost felt alien to her.

“Now, you."

Judy nodded and took a stance mirroring V’s, who grinned. “Oh great, you’re left-handed.” She looked at her fighting position and nodded approvingly.

“That a good thing?” Judy asked, knowing full well the answer.

Judy hadn’t been _entirely_ forthright towards V. She _did_ punch someone before in her life. Back when she was a teenager, she got into some trouble. So after countless times of Judy coming home with various scratches and bruises, her _abuelito_ — Tomás — had no choice but to teach her the basics of what he’d learn in the army — how to defend yourself in case you couldn’t avoid a fight. She also learned that being a southpaw — like her grandfather — was an undeniable advantage. She had to put that knowledge to practise more than a few times. Judy was no expert, it had been years, but she knew more than she let on. She just _really_ enjoyed V showing her those techniques, _looking_ at her, how she moved… feeling her closeness. Perhaps she’d tell her, but not now.

“You tell me.” V shot her a quick wink and went back in front of Judy. “One last thing. Don’t want you hurtin’ yourself, so here’s the proper way to punch.” V reached over to Judy’s arms and paused, eyeing Judy’s hands. “May I?” That woman was so darn polite, it was ridiculous. The green-and-pink-haired woman gave her a quick nod. Judy felt V getting next to her, in fact she was so close she felt the other woman’s breast and abdomen lightly pressing on her arm. She closed her eyes, feeling herself getting flush, trying not to let her body betray her. Judy didn’t know if V realized how close she was as the merc’s wrapped hands grasped her fist gently and positioned it so it was lined up with her wrist.

“Keep your wrist straight, never bend it.” V proceeded to show her with a slow-motion punch then looked at Judy. “Wanna try out the stuff I — ?“

Judy didn’t wait for her to finish and positioned herself, punching the air a few times with both fists, her form rough but acceptable. She couldn’t help herself, otherwise she would go nuts and do things she would regret. She didn’t know if it was her hangover brain, the alcohol still in her blood or just her body’s chemical reaction to V’s proximity — like she was transfixed by her — but Judy was intent on finding that out sooner rather than later. Judy was many things, but patient was not one of them.

V quirked an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised. “O—kay. You’ve done this before?” She exclaimed, unable to hide her excitement which made Judy scoff.

“Yeah, well, I may have had some experience in fightin’. Jus’ not in a, let’s say, _professional_ context.”

“It’s pretty good, for a beginner.”

“Yeah, must also explain why I broke my wrist this one time…” Judy mused.

V was eager to hear more but she also wanted to get started because she was getting tingly with anticipation.

“You'll have to tell me all about it then!” V exclaimed again, not quite thinking about what she just said but then it was too late to take it back.

“Alright. So like, during a date?” Judy asked, seizing the opportunity and beaming a little too brightly. She was unable to hide behind her smooth facade. Fuck, their little flirting game had just gotten real. Again, she blamed that damn hungover. She felt no regrets having said it, surprisingly. She had no words to explain it yet, but she felt like they would hit it off.

“Uh... Yeah... If-if...” V stammered immediately. Feeling her pulse rate increase twofold. What were words again?

“Wow, quick.” Judy mocked, her red cheeks betraying her nervousness.

“Not enough apparently…”

“I’m not patient.”

“Really?” V rolled her eyes mockingly, trying to simmer down her heartbeat. ” _Gonk_.” she added. “Let’s get to work.”

* * *

3.

“Think you should observe how I do first, so you kinda know what to expect.” V stated.” A pause, then a crooked smile. “Oh and, put some resistance into the mitts because I don’t wanna end up smacking you in the face by mistake…”

“Ai’ight.”

Judy put the focus mitts back on and lifted her arms, elbows bent, holding her protected hands in front of her. V took a quick glance over the other students, who were doing a simple jab - jab - cross combo and geared up for the same thing. She couldn’t help but restrain her strength as she hit the target that Judy held in front of her but Judy’s eye roll egged her on. V resumed while putting more strength in her punches, focusing on her speed and precision as well. She wanted to show Judy how it was done and, if she was being honest, she appreciated the way her sparring partner kept stealing glances.

Judy's expression of awe and the slight red tinge creeping on her cheeks was hard to miss for V as her gaze trained upon the slightly shorter woman, quickly flicking back to anything but Judy's eyes as she tried to maintain her focus. As the purple-haired woman landed each punch, she exhaled sharply through her mouth. The timer beeped and it was Judy’s turn to hit the target. She grabbed the boxing gloves, slid them on but had a hard time adjusting them.

“They can be a bitch to put on properly…” V trailed off as she put down her focus mitts and casually secured the velcro tab on her partner’s gloves, the tip of her fingers brushing lightly against the inked letters on Judy’s forearm. The Mox's skin was warm, inviting, and V caught herself tracing her thumb on the words for a split second before realizing it. Clearing her throat, she stepped back into position.

"Ready to try?"

“Yup.”

“Alright, same thing : jab - jab - cross. Let's jog your muscle memory.”

“Which one’s which ?”

“Yea, sorry. Jab’s the quick punch.” V showed her.

“Oh — right, I just didn’ know the proper name for it. “

“And a cross, is, well, that’s what they’re doing right now.”

They both looked at the other students, who were doing a slightly more complex version of that combo. “Second punch they’re doin’. Comes from your strong hand.”

“Know that one too.” Judy

“Good.” V lifted her focus mitts. “Then show me what you got.” She added with a cocky grin.

Without further ado, Judy started her combo, hitting while putting her weight behind the punch like V showed her. She started slowly, making sure to get the proper technique down then, as she grew more confident, she accelerated her pace. Slowly, she remembered. Her muscle memory stirring from its slumber; it had been a long fucking time. One other thing that Judy recalled as she focused on hitting the mitts in front of her, executing one combo after the other, is how much it felt… _good_ to punch a target. But unlike when she was a teenager, she was out of shape and her breathing started to be a bit more difficult as she pushed herself. Quick to notice, V motioned for her to stop.

“Should’ve mentioned this before but.. don’ forget to _breathe_. S'not a speed competition. Second, look at _me_ , not at the targets. Need to see the whole picture, 'therwise the enemy will know 'xactly where you're gonna hit 'em."

Judy looked like she was about to say something but she didn't. V hoped that her explanations made sense to Judy. It was not the first time she’d taught someone but it was the first time she taught someone that… distracted her so much. Seeing Judy like that, in front of her, made V’s feel hyperconscious of herself. V’s tone was firm yet gentle. If she was flirting before, now she focused on Judy's experience and wanted to help her.

"Wanna… switch?" Judy offered, her face redder now. She huffed a bit, gloved hands on her knees.

"Not yet. Want you to practise a bit more... unless you're too winded?" She added with a crooked smile.

Judy shook her head, her colourful hair following the movement. ”Jus' need a second…”

"Ai'ght. In 'n out, slowly. Most of your strength comes from your cardio, so you need good lungs. Need to breathe properly... one thing you can do is exhale as you hit. Might sound silly but trust me -- works."

V nodded in approval. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, waiting for Judy to breathe normally.

* * *

4.

As Judy regained control over her breathing, she looked up at V, thoughts elsewhere. Judy didn’t get drunk often, but when she did, she made sure to get thoroughly shitfaced. Sometimes she was so cross-faded she forgot the whole night. It was almost always to celebrate a particularly well-paid month or some event that Tom, Roxane and Rita most likely made up, but most of the time it was so she could use that excuse if she woke up next to a stranger the next day. However, in those instances, she didn't go to Lizzie's but to another place called the Cellar Door.

A fixture for queer women in Night City, it was known underground. Any patron that entered the bar knew that it was a neutral zone for women of all paths of life to meet and socialize with other women. By day it was a coffee shop library and by night, a club. Not unlike Lizzie's, it was protected by bouncers and a sophisticated security network. During these nights, she often went by herself, although on some occasions she’d brought Evelyn along. The blue-haired woman had a way of inserting herself in Judy’s life even if Judy didn’t want her to. She had often inquired about Judy’s love life and there were only so many times that the techie could deflect Evelyn’s insistence.

She was glad to have someone like Evelyn on her side. Before she was with Maiko, Judy had the unfortunate luck to crush on Evelyn. The older woman did not share her feelings, and she was gracious enough to stay away her from Judy’s life for a few weeks, giving her time to properly grieve. She had told her back then that she loved her like a sister and that she hoped they could remain friends.

Judy remembered the smell of V’s skin and the warmth emanating from the taller woman. She remembered tentatively grazing her sides, then pressing her palm on the small of her back as she guided her on the dance floor. The dancing part had been instinctual. The alcohol helping shed her inhibitions, letting her social anxiety fade to the tiniest of background noises as she reached for this… _yearning_ tugging at her as soon as she laid eyes on V. Dancing was something she was naturally good at. Then there were those lips, she remembered wanting those lips on her, badly.

It had been a long time since Maiko. She got severely burned in that relationship and didn't want that anymore in her life. She became so picky about her girls that she figured that no one in Night City would ever be worth it. The few lovers she had after that were as inconsequential as the fast food you had the morning after a drinking binge. A way to trick your need for intimacy into being fulfilled. She could not and would not let her guard down. Judy took a certain pride in being able to pick up a woman instead of resorting to joytoys. Going to them was against her values, she knew that even if most of them chose to do that, some of them had no choice in the matter.

Judy wished that she could keep up with V, but looking at her well-toned physique, she set her mind on trying not to die instead. One step at a time, she mused as she braced herself for another set of V’s powerful punches.

Judy was impressed yet again. That woman could _hit_. She was getting turned on by the little grunts V made as she landed each strike. She hoped the other woman didn't notice her burning cheeks. It was hard to focus when the woman in front of you wore a muscle tank top, toned arms glimmering with a sheen of sweat. Thank fuck she was wearing a padded sports bra because she was positive her nipples were hard.

If someone had told her she would be one day practising _kickboxing_ of all things, she would have laughed at their face. This had almost nothing to do with the stuff Tomás taught her. However, she had to admit that it was nice to hit things, the right way. It also helped that her sparring partner was as professional as she was attractive.

* * *

5.

The timer beeped and V stopped mistreating the focus mitts, trading her fighting stance for a more relaxed one as she stretched to her full height. They had been switching back and forth for the best part of the class, both panting and sweaty. Judy was trying hard to hide the fact that she was very well on the brink of collapsing. V's face was shiny with sweat especially with this last combo. Judy was impressed she could still hold the mitts up, because her arms and legs were starting to tremble. she was relieved to get a break

The displayed tableau of V’s grunts and loud breathing combined with the glistening skin of the purple-haired woman most likely had something to do with the way Judy’s energy levels remained high during their sparring sessions. V flashed Judy a quick smile before turning to remove her punching gloves. She grabbed her towel, drying her face and arms then had some more RealWater.

“Wanna try this one?" V asked, then brought up the time on her HUD. “We still have a few minutes left.”

Judy wanted to, but her body didn’t. V was so fucking patient with her and she was sure she would once again get out of her way to show her the proper technique. Judy's body also started to show signs of tiredness she couldn't ignore. That and she didn't want to push herself too much on the first day. Especially with V as a partner. She didn’t want to take advantage of the generous woman. This whole situation was almost like a dream. Could be if it wasn't from the diffuse pain that was slowly spreading in her limbs.

"Hm, I'm actually pretty beat." She confessed with a wry laugh, opting for honesty.

"Ha I understand." V smiled lazily. "You… you worked me up pretty good." She added, couldn't help but flirt a little bit.

"Glad to know I'm not useless." Judy retorted with a wink.

"You're definitely not...."

V glanced at the other students. They were starting to slow down, chatting a bit before Sammy gathered them for the stretching session that signalled the end of class. The two women followed suit and sat down on the mats, for once following Sammy's instructions for the wind down exercises.

Once the class was officially over, most of the other students cleared away, some exchanging a few words with V before making their way to get changed and leave. V had the habit of hanging out a bit after class to chat with them or with Sammy. This was her second home after all.

“Hey V! There you are — private lesson?” greeted a tall blonde lady, glancing quickly at Judy. The Hispanic woman eyed her coldly then headed to the changing room. V gave her a small smile as she left, and turned to the woman.

“Um, yeah. Done now. S’up, Clem?”

“Ha, was jus’ wonderin’ if you had time for a lesson sometime this week?”

“Hm, actually, I’m takin’ the week off — some well-deserved time off. So maybe check with Sammy, or if you’re patient, call me next week and we can work something out.”

“Perfect!” Clem grinned. “Alright, I gotta go. See you around!” Clem waved, grabbed her bag and left.

V scoffed to herself and grabbed her stuff from the window ledge, getting to the changing room.

Judy was changing, facing the doorway. The bright blue sports bra she had on was not really doing much to hide the array of tattoos displayed. V could make up a pattern made of criss-crossing thin red lines emerging from the top left side. A spiderweb? V tried to avert her eyes but failed as she felt Judy’s eyes locked into hers, a coy smile slowly spreading on her lips. With what felt like superhuman strength, V unfroze and went to dump her workout equipment into her duffel bag, not even caring. Then Judy turned around to reach for her crop top shirt and slid it on, but not before V saw a glimpse of the twin seahorse tattoos adorning Judy’s back. _Fuck_ , that was hot. Then she buckled her overall buckle and put on her studded leather belt. The eyeliner was gone now, probably cleaned off with a wipe. Judy’s eyes were as stunning, the warmth in them even more present as she looked at V.

“Your turn now.” Whispered Judy as she shouldered her bag, brushing past V _again_. The young merc’s breath hitched and, without thinking, she grabbed Judy’s wrist.

“Wait.”

Judy turned around, eyebrow cocked inquisitively. The heat emanating off of her was palpable; V had a hard time thinking straight. Words fumbled out of her.

"Judy... don't know what made you come here today but... glad you did. " V reluctantly let go of the Hispanic woman's wrist as she stepped back, noticing somewhat vaguely that the other woman never flinched to the sudden touch and that she actually touched _voluntarily_ someone else. “I’d like to... see you again."

"Me too, V." Judy said, her chocolate browns looking at V'a greens, smiling softly. "But for now... really need a shower." Fuck, this wasn't like her to just... accept without thinking. But then again, V felt… different. Like perhaps she knew her in another life? Her _abuelita_ Isabella would certainly tease her if she heard her. Judy never really believed that sort of stuff when she was younger, soulmates, friends and lovers transferred from one life to the next. But grew inclined to allow herself to think it a little bit as she reflected on her life as it was now, thankful that she had good friends surrounding her. Tom, Roxanne and Evelyn always had her back as she had theirs. Even Rita, even if the woman was prickly more often than not.

V laughed, head tilted back. Judy traced the contours of her neck and jaw with her eyes, noticing how... eager she felt. Wanted to close the distance between them and... The moment was taken away from them as they heard footsteps, then a throat clearing.

"Someone in there? You decent?"

"Yeah!" Shot V, reacting within a second. "We're decent. No need to be scared, Sammy-boy!"

Judy couldn't help but laugh at V's apparent nonchalance at the sudden interruption, even if she was a bit pissed that he kind of ruined their moment.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming in."

Then the curtain was drawn aside and Sammy stood in the entryway.

"Once again the last one out, eh V?” He smiled at them. "Enjoyed the class?" He addressed Judy.

She nodded with a smile. "Yes I did. Thanks for referring me to this one." She pointed to V with her thumb. “Quite the coach."

"Sure! You two seemed to hit it off."

“Yeah, you’re also a good student.” V replied, trying to retain her cool. It was like she forgot she was ex-corpo as soon as Judy came in the gym.

“Very good then. So, erm, Judy, was wonderin’ if I could bend your ear a lil’ about that glitch?”

“Huh, sure. I’m no expert but I’ll do my best.”

“Oh so I take it that my ICE upgrades didn’t hold?” V chimed in.

“They do, but it’s the hardware that needs upgradin’, and — Ha so you were _not_ listening to me when I explained?” Sammy’s tone was half-annoyed, half-amused.

“Did I _tell_ you how hungover I was?” The merc ventured.

“Should’ve guessed, with those damn aviators you had on inside.”

“Yeah, yeah… Alright, so, can I get some privacy to change or do I have to do it in front of you all?” V asked smirking at Sammy, avoiding Judy’s gaze. She wouldn’t mind Judy watching.

As expected, Sammy stammered. “No — no of course not. I’ll be up front. Don’ wanna keep you.” He left swiftly.

V shook her head, smiling. “Sorry, kinda… love being an idiot sometimes.” She offered, surprising herself at her own honesty. That was definitely one step closer to get rid of her corpo bad habits. It also felt pretty natural. Perhaps all those regulating drugs they had her on at Arasaka were finally entirely out of her system. Perhaps it was the effect Judy had on her, V dared to venture.

“Yeah, kinda noticed, even if I’ve known you for like… Two hours?”

V nodded. _Been knowing you for a couple of hours, but_ ** _you’ve_** _been fucking haunting me since last night_ “Um, _officially_ , yeah. We didn’t get a chance to get a proper chat… Um, mind if I change right now? Getting cold now, not doing anything…”

“Huh sure… I could step —.“

Judy didn’t even have time to finish her sentence that V had removed her tank top, revealing the rest of the tattoos adorning her slightly darker skin. Judy’s breath hitched. Goddamn that was a big piece. She admired how it flowed all around V’s torso and faded kinda naturally just above her elbows. Another brownie point. Judy _loved_ ink. Most of her exes didn’t have any to speak of.

Maiko, of course, thought that tattoos looked vulgar on most people. Not that she cared that her statement stung Judy, who considered her ink as part of her history. Her former output never even asked her what most of them meant to her. At the beginning, she was sweet to Judy, taking care of her and even going as far as cooking a full meal for her. She loved Judy’s intensity about life, her work, her drive to help people. Judy saw someone that was deeply hurt despite the facade, she wanted to help. That didn’t last long. After the initial passion of any new relationship, Maiko started to show her true colours.Those eight months with the doll were as beautiful as they were ugly. They were completely toxic for each other.

It did nothing to help Judy’s jealousy and possessiveness; if anything, it made it increase tenfold. It sometimes felt as if she was living on quicksand. Judy learned that she might as well latch on to what she had as hard as she could before it would inevitably be ripped away from her. She had a nagging feeling that Maiko was not faithful to her about 6 months in, but Maiko denied it. Her then-output strung Judy along, pretending it was work keeping her that busy during the evenings. She even told her that it was her jealousy speaking and there was nothing to worry about. Judy kept trying, hoping that Maiko would open up. They even broke up and got back together after Judy - much to her shame - begged Maiko to take her back. But ultimately, Judy had to leave her.

Judy was brought back to reality as V cleared her throat, now changed in her regular clothing. V was casually rolling up her sleeves just above her elbows. Judy couldn’t help but stare. The purple-haired woman was stunning, even wearing the most casual of clothing. She had her sports bag in her hand, ready to go. Judy still had hers hanging loosely on her shoulder.

V had a small crooked grin on. _Yeah, saw you starin’_. “Shall we?” She motioned for the door and they finally made their way to the counter upfront where Sammy was, tapping away on his terminal.

“Think I’m really beat. I’d kill for a decent coffee.” Judy stifled a yawn.

“I get it. All I want is a nap, some proper food and several coffees.” V stated as she stretched once again.

“That’s the adrenaline leavin’ your body.” Sammy chimed in. “So, Judy, is now a good time? It won’t take too long and after we can discuss your membership — if you’re interested, that is…”

“Um, feels like you’re in good hands. If you both don’t mind, I’ll delta. I have a long walk back home. Sammy, I will see you next class!” V took off quickly, suddenly feeling very socially inapt and tired.

**Author's Note:**

> A special thank you to Jayth and Zer0Fahrenheit from the Lizzie's Bar Discord server for their patience, advice and proofreading.


End file.
